Inventory of Synagogue Objects (Fustāt, Egypt)

This official document, written in Judeo-Arabic, records Ephraim ibn Bashād’s commitment to watch over the Palestinian synagogue in Fustāt (Old Cairo). Ephraim was to receive a small stipend for his job, including payment of the jizya (annual poll tax, a tax on non-Muslims mandated by Islamic law). The document entrusts the holdings of the synagogue to him as well, perhaps in order to provide a record should any problems arise. The ellipsis indicates a lacuna in the manuscript.